In the past year alone, an astounding sum of three crore, seventeen lakh, fifty-one thousand and twenty-four (31,751,024) rupees worth of medicines were temporarily suspended due to quality failures, according to recent audit reports.
The audit report further disclosed that the medical supplies department lacked the capability to assess the condition of drugs through the National Drug Quality Protection Laboratory, which operates under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority. This deficiency has resulted in patients unknowingly receiving and using medicines that have already failed to meet quality standards.
To mitigate this concerning situation, the audit report emphasizes that, for several years, the implementation of a mechanism to inspect the condition of drugs before releasing them to hospitals had been neglected.
The report states that expired stocks, with a cumulative value of 77.82 million rupees, have been languishing in warehouses for over a decade. This inefficiency not only represents a financial burden but also questions the effectiveness of inventory management in healthcare facilities.
